Eymology of "Scandinavia"

Historically, the term Scandinavia was introduced in the eighteenth century, at a time when the ideas about a common heritage started to appear and develop into early literary and linguistic Scandinavism.

Popular use ofScandinaviaas a unifying concept of Sweden, Denmark and Norway was largely established in the nineteenth century. This is support in poems, such as Hans Christian Andersons "I am a Scandinavian" of 1839.

After a visit to Sweden, Andersen became a supporter of early political Scandinavism and in a letter describing the poem to a friend, he wrote: "All at once I understood how related the Swedes, the Danes and the Norwegians are, and with this feeling I wrote the poem immediately after my return: 'We are one people, we are called Scandinavians!'"